Perchance to Dream
by CatChester
Summary: Following the change in Lupo's behaviour, Zane decides to do some digging but their confrontation is interrupted when the town is put in peril and Jo and Zane must work together to try and save it.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Perchance to Dream

Author: Cat Chester

Rating: T

Paring: Jo/Zane

Disclaimer: Not mine. Please don't sue as all I own are 3 dogs. Actually, you're welcome to the dogs.

Spoilers: Up to Crossing Over

Summary: Following the change in Lupo's behaviour, Zane decides to do some digging but his confrontation is interrupted when the Town in put in peril. Jo and Zane must work together to try and save them.

AN: Unbetaed. I don't usually post anything unbetaed but I cant find anyone who wants the job. If you'd like to volunteer to beta future chapters, please PM me.

**Chapter One**

Post 4x04, the Story of O2

Jo leaned back in her chair and let out a long sigh as she looked up at the ceiling. All her life she had wanted to be taken seriously in her profession but because she was small and pretty that was often all people saw. When they read her C.V. they knew she's been in the Special Forces but they never seemed to equate that fact with the woman standing before them.

In many ways this reality was better for her. Her dream had come true and she had made it all the way to Head of Global Dynamics Security, one of the most prestigious jobs in the country.

The only problem was, it had come at the cost of the one person she held most dear.

Since arriving in this new timeline, she had read through some of her old incident reports. It seemed to her that things with Zane weren't that much different to her own time, except she had never given Zane a chance to prove himself. When Carter had argued for putting trust in him, she had fought him and won. Poor Zane had had to wear that tagging bracelet for months because of her.

From what she could see, reading between the lines of her reports, Zane had always flirted with her just like she remembered, but in this timeline she took that as an offence, as though it undermined her authority.

She smiled as she remembered his first night in the jail, when she'd arrived the next morning to find he had ordered stacks of lingerie for her. She had found it amusing but this Jo found it offensive. It seemed that the more Zane teased her, the harder this Jo came down on him, to the point where they were now enemies. It was mainly her fault he had such a bad reputation in town, because she was always the first one to point the finger at him.

Jo wondered if she could ever come back from that? If _they_ could ever come back from that?

Yesterday she had seen the first glimpse of 'her Zane'. The Zane who had just been misguided. The Zane who had just been looking for somewhere to fit in. Well he had found somewhere and this Jo had ruined it for him.

His record wasn't bad, mainly pranks and animal rights acts, things she might have even laughed at before everything changed.

"Lupo?"

She looked up to see Zane peering around her office door.

"Is the truce still on?" he asked.

"Truce?" she asked.

"Yeah. You're not going to taze me or anything if I invade your space, are you?"

The idea that other Jo might have even considered that made her sad. "No," she assured him.

Zane stepped inside, still a little hesitant.

"What can I do for you?" she asked.

"I just, I wanted to say thanks and, I'm really sorry about your house," Zane scratched his head.

"Thank you," she smiled slightly.

"That's, uh, that's gotta be rough, losing everything personal you ever had." He took a few more steps into her office.

He wasn't wrong, but it wasn't her house she was upset at having lost.

"Yeah, well... Do you know what the _really_ annoying thing is? Now I have to go shopping."

"You hate shopping," it wasn't exactly a question not a statement. It almost felt like he was compiling a profile of her.

"I can tolerate it in small doses but now I have to buy everything again. Clothes, dishes, furniture, everything."

"Won't they give you a furnished place?"

Jo shrugged. "Fargo has put in a request but there's nothing free right now.

Zane finally made it to the chair opposite her and sat down.

"You know, Larry's giving a demonstration of his quantum propulsion engine tomorrow, I could reverse the polarity on the gyroscopic circuit if you wanted, make it fly upside down?"

Jo smiled at the idea. "Oh, as tempting as that sounds, you'd better not."

She missed this, the easy banter they shared.

Even in her own timeline Jo had spent her time being tough. She didn't show weakness, she didn't cry. She had spent her life trying to measure up to the boys but dating Zane had given her an outlet for her softer side. With him she didn't have to put up a front, she didn't always have to be the strong one.

All she really wanted was for Zane to put his arms around her and tell her everything would be okay, even if it was a total lie. Instead her smile faded and she looked at the man sitting opposite her.

"So what about you, hows the new project?"

"Well it's the old project, actually. I'm building a new Sky Cruiser prototype."

"I hear Fargo gave you your own team this time."

"Yeah, I had a feeling that might have be your idea."

"Well it was your design, it's only fitting that you should be in charge of it this time."

Zane leaned back in his head and regarded her. "What happened to you, Lupo?"

"What do you mean?" she bluffed.

"You're one hundred percent business all the time, no small talk, no second chances, no believing in people or giving them a chance to prove themselves. So what changed?"

Jo leaned forward. "You know, for a genius, you're not very bright."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Jo shrugged. "You're the smart one, you figure it out." She stood up. "And now I have to go shopping."

"I thought you didn't have a new place yet?"

"I don't, but even staying with Jack, I'll need new clothes and underwear."

"Well, if you need a hand picking things out, I'm available," he smirked.

"Thank you, but I think I can manage to dress myself."

Zane shrugged. "Can't blame a guy for trying," he said, standing up and backing towards the door. "I, uh, I guss I'll see you 'round, Jo Jo."

As he headed back to his own lab to finish up for the day, Zane couldn't help but wonder at the stark change in Lupo. Her reactions were almost normal now and she seemed to have developed a sense of humour.

He wondered what she meant by telling him 'it figure it out'? Had something changed or was she just showing him a different side to her? If she was just showing him a new aspect of her personality, why now?

It was time to do some digging into Jo Lupo, he decided. One way or the other, he was determined to figure her out.

**Post 4x05 – Crossing Over**

Jo brought her new camping equipment with her that Friday so she could take off straight from work. As much as she loved Jack, living with him and SARAH is already doing her head in a little bit. Besides, she knew that Jack would appreciate a few days free of reality shows.

Thanks to the advanced medicine in Eureka she was almost headed from her surgery but she was still going to take it very easy. She intended to stick to the trails and had even indulged in an air bed so she didn't have to bend over too much when she got into bed.

After an update from the night shift guards she headed to her office to check her schedule and start the day.

Sitting in the middle of her desk was a box with Liza's Lingerie on the front. Her breath caught in her throat and her eyes stung with tears for a second before she got herself back under control. She took a few deep breaths and sat down behind her desk.

Part of her hoped to find a ring inside but she knew that wasn't possible. Still, she couldn't quite bring herself to open the box and have that hope dashed.

"Are you going to stare at it all day or are you going to open it?"

She looked up to see Zane standing in the doorway.

"Hey," he stepped forward. "Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Yeah," he wasn't too far off. "This is from you?"

"Come on, Lupo, who else sends you lingerie? Have you got an army of admirers out there that you haven't told me about?"

"No." She swallowed and slowly lifted the lid off the box and pushed the tissue paper back to reveal a matching silk bra and panties set. She couldn't help but smile, though somewhat sadly.

"Camouflage print?" she asked.

"I thought you'd like it."

"Well thank you," she smiled. "It was very sweet of you, if completely inappropriate."

"Aww, can't a colleague give another collogue a sexy set of sexy underwear without having his motives called into question?"

"And I suppose you'd like to see how they fit?"

"Well, of course. I need to make sure I got the right size."

As tempted as she was to agree, she remembered just in time that they didn't have that sort of relationship now.

"In your dreams, Donovan."

"Well, you can't blame me for trying," Zane grinned. "Catch you later, Jo Jo," he left and headed back to his lab.

That was definitely not the Jo Lupo he knew. She hated his lingerie gifts with a passion, which was why he still sent them when he really wanted to wind her up. Plus, the Jo he knew would have decked him for some of those remarks. She wouldn't have bantered with him.

So who was this Jo Lupo? And why did she look almost frightened when she first saw the box? He had never seen her look vulnerable before and for some reason he didn't like it.

He had already discovered quite a bit of interesting information and tonight he hoped to gather the final pieces to the puzzle.

As Zane entered his lab he pushed those thoughts aside for the time being. He could ponder what Jo's abnormal reactions mean later. Right now he had work to do and he was determined to make a success of this project.

III

When Jo awoke on Saturday morning she sighed with contentment. It was wonderful of Jack to let her stay with him, but she needed alone time. It had been bad enough when she was just a deputy but now she was head of GD security it seemed like everyone wanted a piece of her. When she got home at night the last thing she wanted to do was make small talk. Make love maybe but not small talk.

She pushed that thought aside. She and Zane were over and she needed to accept the new reality. While it was true that Zane was being friendlier to her now, she couldn't just erase the two years in which the other Jo had been nothing but a bitch to him.

She carefully got out of bed, one hand held protectively over her chest, and opened the tent.

"Zane!"

"Morning, beautiful." He held a mug of coffee towards her.

"I..." Jo pushed her hair out of her face and tucked her t-shirt in. "What are you doing here?"

"I put a tracking device on your car. After that I just followed the trail," he shrugged, "So do you want this coffee or not."

Jo took the mug and sat on the camping chair next to him. She noticed he had brought his own chair and wondered what that meant.

"This is good," she said as she took her first sip of coffee.

"It's a prototype from the commercial lab," he explained as he sipped his own. "The coffee granules have a small thermal agent in them, just add water,' stir and it heats up on it's own."

"Handy."

"Isn't it?"

"But you didn't answer my question, what are you doing here?"

Zane narrowed his gaze as he considered his answer. "You might want to brush your teeth before we get into it."

Jo considered his words for a moment and decided to do as he said since she really would prefer to freshen up before their talk. She went back into her tent and brushed her teeth using bottled water, swallowing the toothpaste since she couldn't spit it out. She then brushed her hair back into a neat ponytail and changed into her hiking gear before rejoining him outside.

"Much better," he smiled as she emerged. "You almost look human."

"Bite me," she retorted, it was still a little early for any decent repartee. "So are you going to answer me now?"

Zane smiled, obviously pleased with himself.

"I've been doing a little extra curricular research."

"Like what?"

"Like hacking into your computer files."

"Zane! If anyone finds out you will be in big trouble."

"But you have found out, Lupo. So am I in trouble?"

Jo didn't answer.

"I didn't think so."

"Don't get cocky, I can still haul your ass back to jail."

"You could, but I don't think you will."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't think you're Jo Lupo."

Jo's heart skipped a beat at the thought they might have been found out.

"Then who am I?" she bluffed.

"Well, I think you're _a_ Jo Lupo, just not _our_ Jo Lupo."

"That's insane."

"Is it?" Zane grinned, obviously enjoying the game. "What if I told you some of your friends are also acting out of sorts, like Sheriff Carter, Henry, Fargo and Doctor Blake?"

"I'd say you were paranoid."

"Okay," he nodded. "How about this then, I ran a facial recognition on your new friend, Doctor Charles Grant and he bares a striking resemblance to a Doctor Trevor Grant who went missing from Eureka in 1947?"

"They say everyone has a doppelganger," she shrugged.

"You really expect me to believe that?" Zane laughed. "Okay. So what if I told you that all the stuff that was appearing around the town a few days ago was also from 1947."

"How could you tell that?"

"Molecular Dating, It's like Carbon Dating but accurate to within three months."

"I'd say it was a coincidence."

"All right, what if I told you I hacked into the robotics lab and was able to reconstruct some fragments of Deputy Andy's memory. Specifically one fragment where the Sheriff admitted that you had travelled back in time to 1947 and returned to an alternate reality?"

"I'd say... 'crap'," Jo sighed.

"Don't worry, Jo Jo, your secret is safe with me," Zane grinned.

"If you found out, it's only a matter of time until someone else figures it out too."

"I don't think so," Zane shook his head. "You see, I erased all the data I found."

"Really? All of it?" She sounded sceptical.

"Really. Except for one copy I made."

Jo thought about that for a second. "So what, you're going to try and blackmail me now?"

"Blackmail is such a dirty word. Coercion is so much nicer."

"Okay, so what do you want? A get out of jail free card?"

"No," Zane frowned. "I just want the truth and I knew you wouldn't tell me unless I forced you too."

"So if I answer all your questions, you'll give me the copy?"

"Of course."

"Then you better start asking. I want to go hiking later," Jo said as she sipped her coffee. She wondered what he wanted to know, hoping he wouldn't ask about himself. Those were memories she didn't want to relive with him sitting right beside her.

"Are you sure that's a good idea so soon after your surgery?"

"Just ask your questions, Zane, I can take care of myself."

Zane leaned forward. "Fine! How are things different in your time line?"

Okay, that was easy. "Not much has changed in the wider world. On a personal level, I used to be Carter's Deputy, Allison used to be head of DG and her son was autistic, Henry wasn't married, Fargo just worked for GD and Jack and Tess broke up a year ago. Oh, and the statue in town used to be granite, not bronze."

"So things have improved for you, you have a better job now," he stated.

"Yeah, I guess."

"So why are you so miserable?" he asked, frowning.

Jo stared into her coffee and licked her lips as she considered how much to tell him. "I'm alone. Where I came from, I had a fiancé but here all I have is work."

"But you could change that. You're an attractive woman, you could have anyone you wanted."

"It's not that simple," Jo looked up at him and smiled sadly. "I love him."

"Oh. I'm sorry, Jo."

"It, uh, it's not your fault."

"So what am I like where you come from?"

Jo closed her eyes and swallowed down her emotions. "You're brilliant, kind, everyone likes you. You can be a little snarky and arrogant at times but you're also well respected."

Zane laughed. "Me? Respected?"

"Is that so hard to believe?"

"In case you hadn't noticed, I'm not really a team player."

"Sure you are. All your life you've always been the smartest guy in the room, even at MIT you were in a different class everyone else but here you found somewhere you could fit in, except you were afraid to try, afraid they wouldn't understand you, that they'd reject you like everyone else had."

Zane sat back and considered her words. "That's quite some insight."

"Yeah, well, it's my job to understand people. And on that note, I'm really sorry for everything other-Jo did to you. You aren't a bad person and I think she rode your ass because you scared her."

"I scared her?" Zane laughed. "Please, nothing scares her."

"Except the idea of letting her guard down and either getting hurt or appearing unprofessional."

Zane frowned as he considered her words. It was such a stunningly simple answer that he really should have realised it himself.

"I know you're not this Jo, but you're the only Jo we have so, I'm sorry. I know I come on strong but I never meant to scare you," he frowned. "Or her," he corrected.

"I'm sure if this Jo were here, she'd kick your ass for having found her weakness," Jo smiled.

Zane laughed. "Yeah, you're probably right." They sat in silence for a fee moments until Zane asked. "So... am I seeing anyone in your reality?"

"I... I don't know."

"So we're not friends then?"

"Well... We're friendly, I guess."

Zane noticed her hesitation but he didn't press it. "So how did it happen? Was it a time travel project? Because I thought those were outlawed."

"No, it was an accident, we think. A bridge was created between Doctor Grants machine here and in 1947."

"Can't you go back again and change things back?"

"I wish. The machine got fried, it's dead."

"So you're stuck here."

"Yeah," she sighed.

Zane didn't know what to say to that because he was actually pleased that this Jo had replaced his Jo.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Apparently you can ask me anything, until I get my hands on that CD."

"Don't be like that, Jo Jo."

"Like what? You're blackmailing me, how am I supposed to act?"

"Fine, there is no copy. I only said that because I didn't think you'd tell me otherwise."

"I don't know if I can believe you."

Zane took a moment to compose his thoughts. "Look, Jo, I know I don't deserve your trust, but if your Zane is anything like me, you'll know that when I make a promise, I mean it. And I promise you that there is no copy."

Jo looked at him closely and after a few moments she relaxed. "I believe you."

Zane smiled.

"So what were you going to ask?"

"When you found that lingerie box you looked spooked. What's the deal with that?"

Zane didn't have anything to hold over her head now so she didn't need to answer him but she felt she owed him an answer.

"When my boyfriend proposed, he put the ring in one of those boxes."

Zane cringed. "Oh God, I am so sorry, Jo. I had no idea."

"It's okay, how could you know?"

"Still, it's a pretty asshole thing to do."

"No. Asshole would be doing it if you already knew and you may be annoying but you're not 'that guy'."

"You have a lot more faith in me than I have in myself."

"Underneath everything, I don't think you're that different from the Zane I knew. You just need a chance."

"So," Zane leaned towards her and spoke softly, as though he didn't want to be overheared. "Does this mean we're friends now?" he asked, a slight smirk pulling at his lips.

"I-" she was cut off as her phone rang. Was one weekend off too much to ask, she thought, clenching her jaw in frustration. She held a finger up to show Zane she'd just be a minute as she answered. "Lupo."

"Jo, I think the water's been poisoned," it was Carter and he sounded very groggy. "We... We need you..."

"Carter? Carter!"


	2. Chapter 2

AN: I still have no beta. Sorry for any mistakes, I hope they are few and far between.

AN2: In case the SARAH stuff doesn't make sense, this part of the fic was written before 4X07 aired. For the purpose of this fic, that episode doesn't exist

**Chapter Two**

"Jo, I think the water's been poisoned," it was Carter and he sounded very groggy. "We... We need you..."

"Carter? Carter!"

Zane looked concerned. "What's up?"

"Where did you get the water for this coffee?" she asked.

"Uh, I bought it with me."

"From a tap?"

"No, I bought a couple of bottles yesterday. Why?"

"Jack said the water has been poisoned."

"The town water?"

"I don't know, he sounded drowsy and then he just just stopped talking. Did you break the seal on the water bottle?"

Zane thought back. "Yes."

"Then we're probably safe, I brought bottled water with me too. Have you drunk from a tap at all?"

"Not since last night. I came straight up here after I left GD."

"Let's hope that's enough," she stood up and headed in the direction of her car. "I need to get back to town."

"Lets take the Sky Cruiser back," Zane said joining her. "It'll be much faster."

Jo grabbed his arm to stop him. "You rode your project here without permission!"

"I had permission, this is it's first field test. Besides, don't you have more important things to be focusing on right now?"

"Right. Okay, lead the way."

The Sky Cruiser was parked close to her car. Zane got on and handed her his helmet.

"What about you?" she asked.

"I built the thing, if it goes down, I deserve to be the one with head injuries."

"Zane-"

"Lupo, just put the damn helmet on and stop worrying."

For once Jo did as he said and climbed on the bike, wrapping her hands around his waist. She made a conscious effort not to cling too tightly, as much as she might want to.

"Hold on tight," Zane said as he fired the cruiser up.

The ride back to town wasn't the smoothest but it was much faster than her car. Main Street looked deserted.

"Land it near the sheriffs office," she shouted over the engines.

"Sure thing," he said, manoeuvring the cruiser down to the ground.

Jo jumped off the bike and ran inside with Zane right behind her.

"He's not here," she said having checked everywhere.

"It's early, maybe he's still at home."

Jo nodded. "Okay, we'll try there next." They headed back outside. "I know it's early," she said, slowing to a stop before they reached the bike, "but there should still be someone about. This is like a ghost town."

"You're right," Zane frowned. "But lets find Carter first. Even if he isn't home, SARAH might have some information we can use."

They climbed back on the Sky Cruiser and headed over to the smart house. Jo banged on the door.

"Sarah, is Jack here?" She called.

"Yes, Jo. He is in need of medical help but I am unable to summon anyone."

"Then let me in."

"I'm afraid I cant do that, Jo, I am under strict orders not to let Mr Donovan on the premises."

Jo frowned. "What? Why?"

"When the sheriff caught Zane with Zoe, he forbade me from granting him access ever again."

Jo turned to Zane. "You made out with Zoe?"

"No! Well, kinda, a little maybe. But I only did it to upset Carter."

While Jo had a hundred and one questions, she also had more pressing matters at hand so she bit her tongue and glared at him. "We'll talk about it later," she snapped. "Jack will make an exception this time, SARAH, he needs our help."

"I'm sorry, there are no exceptions."

"Just go in without me," he said, backing away. He sounded a little disappointed. "I'll wait outside."

"No." Jo turned back to the door and typed into the screen beside it.

"Override activated," SARAH announced as the door opened.

"Whoa, he gave you his access codes?" Zane asked.

"Only for emergencies. I think this counts. SARAH, where is he?"

"He is in the bathroom."

They found Jack on the floor, his phone still gripped in his hand. Jo turned him over and felt for a pulse.

"He's still alive. What happened, SARAH?"

"He had just finished cleaning his teeth then he stumbled and fell to the floor. He managed to call you before he passed out."

"He said the water was poisoned," Zane said to SARAH as he picked up the half full cup beside the sink. "Can you conform that?"

"I have detected an new substance in the water supply, but it is not in my databanks."

"Don't you check the water?" Jo asked.

"I check for all known contaminants, yes, but this did not register as dangerous."

"Let's get him up," Zane said, "Maybe we can rouse him."

Together they got Jack upright but he was completely unresponsive. They carried him through to the living room and placed him on the sofa.

"So what now?" Jo asked.

"Sarah, can you show me this molecule?" Zane asked.

"Of course." A three dimensional hologram appeared of the chemicals molecular structure.

"Does it mean anything to you?" Jo asked.

Zane shook his head. "Not much. Sarah's right, it's like nothing I've ever seen before, although it is similar to a benzodiazepine in structure."

"Wait, aren't they sedatives?"

"Yeah, they're a hypnotic and anti-convulsant as well as being a common anti-anxiety medication. But to induce sleep that quickly the dose would have to be massive. Enough to kill and clearly Jack's still alive."

Just to be sure, Jo checked his pulse again.

"SARAH, do you know the concentration of this stuff?" Zane asked.

The data flashed up beside the molecule and Jo watched as Zane looked through it.

"Anything?" she asked him.

"The level is only two hundred parts per million." He saw her frown so elaborated. "These doses are tiny, the levels of fluoride in water are larger than this. If this was diazepam or even alprazolam it wouldn't have any discernible effect at these levels."

"What are they?"

"Um, Valium and Xanax, they're common benzodiazepines."

"So why is this so quick acting?"

Zane shook his head. "I'm not a pharmacologist but I would say that the alterations in it's molecular structure make it a hundred times more potent and much easier to absorb."

"Can we reverse it?" she asked him."

Zane shrugged. "With stimulants maybe, but I wouldn't want to counteract this without knowing exactly how it works."

"But if this thing is so potent, couldn't they overdose?" Jo asked

Zane hesitated before reluctantly answering, "It's possible."

"Then we have to try."

"A drug interaction could do even more harm," Zane argued. "I'm not a doctor and I'm not comfortable administering drugs to counteract other unknown drugs."

"What do you suggest?" Jo asked.

"That we find a doctor," he said, like it was the simplest thing in the world. "Because I am not taking the rap if he dies," he pointed at Jack.

"No one will blame you," Jo reasoned. "In case you haven't noticed, we're all that's left. And right now you are this towns only hope for a cure."

Zane looked frightened for a moment before he shook his head in defeat. "I guess I don't exactly have a lot of choice, do I?" He sighed.

"Nope," Jo shook her head. "But I believe in you. You can do this."

"I hope you're right," he said with a sigh. "Okay, lets take him to GD."

Together they carried Jack out to the cruiser.

"What I really want to know," Zane said. "Is who would want to put the whole town to sleep?"

"That's what I've been wondering too," Jo answered.

"Any ideas yet?"

"Not yet," Jo shook her head.

They took Carters car to GD since they couldn't carry him on the Sky Cruiser and they carried him to the med lab. The few people they encountered were asleep, lying sprawled in the hallways.

They hauled Carter onto one of the beds and Zane headed straight towards the computer as Jo leaned against the bed. The exertion of helping to carry Carter up here had aggravated her surgical wounds and she took a few calming breaths as she tried to bury the pain.

"Jo?"

Zane was at her side but she hadn't heard him approach.

"I'm fine."

"You don't look fine," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder to turn her to him.

"Trust me," she pushed his hand away and winced in pain again.

"Okay, you are definitely not fine."

"We need to be working on a cure, Zane."

"No, we need to make sure you haven't done any serious damage." He shook his head in frustration. "If you'd told me I would have carried him up here myself."

"Zane, just leave it."

Zane walked away and she thought she had won. Unfortunately he returned a few moments later with a scanner.

"Weren't you the one saying you're not a doctor?"

"Don't need to be a doctor to work a scanner," he said. "I don't suppose you'd lie down for this, would you?"

"Zane, I'm fine."

"You are not fine," he said softly. "And I am not going to be the only one still awake when help arrives. You're my alibi, Lupo, so just shut up and do as you're told for once."

He turned the scanner on and ran it over her chest and abdomen. Reluctantly Jo turned towards him to make the scan easier.

"Your stitches are fine. It looks like you've torn the chest muscle again, very slightly. It'sothing to worry about but on top of the damage already done to that area, it's gonna hurt."

He walked away again and Jo rested against the bed, in pain and confused. She hadn't wanted Zane to help her, yet now that he had just walked away because she wasn't in danger of dying, she felt let down.

"Here," he made her jump slightly as he appeared at her side again. He took her hand and put what looked like a pen into it. He pressed the end and light poured from the end onto her chest. "That beam penetrates the skin and promotes healing. Hold it over your chest for a few minutes, about," he positioned her hand a foot away from her chest wall, "here."

"Thanks," she said softly.

"Any time,"

Zane flashed her the smile that he used to use when he was pleased with himself. She missed that smile.

She watched as he went over to the computer and sat down.

"So that ring around your neck-" he began to ask.

"How did you know..."

"The scanner picked it up." his eyes were firmly fixed on the screen but his attention was on her reaction. "Is it his?"

Jo didn't answer immediately. "Yeah."

"Why don't you wear it properly?" he asked.

"Because it would be difficult to explain and... I never actually said yes."

Zane looked up. "Why not?"

Jo shrugged. "I froze."

"Do you love him?"

"Yeah."

"Then what was the problem?"

"There was no problem, I was just caught off guard. I got scared and tongue-tied... and his last memory of me, if he still exists, is of me not saying yes."

Zane looked back to his screen. "If he knew you well enough to propose, he could figure your reaction out for himself."

"Maybe."

"Definitely."

Jo kept expected him to ask who her boyfriend had been but thankfully he never questioned her on it. She held the light on her chest for about five minutes until the pain began to ease. She checked Carters pulse one last time then turned off the healing pen and headed over to stand behind Zane.

"What are you looking for?" she asked.

"Right now I'm just confirming doses of epinephrine."

"Will that wake him up?"

Zane shrugged. "It's synthetic adrenalin, so I hope so."

"You hope so?"

He completed the calculations and headed to the supply cabinet. "Yeah, I hope so and until I have an MD after my name, that's the best you're going to get!" The drug cabinet refused to open for him. "Can you unlock this thing?" he asked.

Jo opened the cabinet with her thumb print and watched as Zane found the drug and filled a syringe with it.

He returned to Carter and placed electrodes on his temples and chest, connecting them to the closest monitor. Jack's heart beat was slow but steady.

When he could delay no longer, Zane turned Jacks arm over and exposed the inside of his elbow.

"Wait, aren't you supposed to inject that into his heart?" Jo asked.

"Only if his heart had stopped." He injected the needle and slowly pumped the contents of the syringe in the vein.

"Nothings happening," Jo said, staring at the monitor. "Why is nothing happening?"

"Give it a minute," Zane reassured her as Carter's heart rate began to rise.

"It's working," Jo smiled but a few minutes later when Carter still hadn't woken up she sighed. "Can you give him more?" she asked.

Zane shook his head. "That's the highest dose I want to risk."

"So what now?" she asked, looking worried and a little scared.

"Hey," Zane stepped towards her and put his hands on her shoulders. "Everything is going to be all right, okay?"

"You're lying."

"Well yeah, but I'm a good liar," he joked before turning serious. "We'll get through this, Jo Jo. I promise."

Reluctantly Jo smiled slightly. "I know."

"That's my girl. Okay, now you go and check the security log and see if you can figure out what's happening, while I take a crash course in pharmacology."

"Right," Jo nodded. "Call me if you find anything."

"I will," he promised as she backed towards the door.

III

Jo was nearly finished in the security office when Zane rang.

"Zane, have you found anything?"

"Maybe. How about you?"

"I found out why. I'll be with you in a few minutes."

"Great. Could you stop into Doctor Pollock's lab on your way back?"

"What for?"

"You're looking for a metallic cylindrical device, about five inches long with three seams."

"On it." She hung up and headed to Pollack's lab. It took some hunting but she eventually found something like Zane had described in one of the cupboards. She hoped it was the right thing.

"Any luck?" Jo asked as she came back into the med lab. She glanced over to Carter and was relieved to hear that the machine was still beeping steadily.

"Some," Zane turned towards her. "This computer can run virtual medical trials on new drugs so I ran this compound through it. Turns out it's already being tested. It's called X-127P, it's a new anticonvulsant medication. It stays in the blood stream, inactive and harmless until it's activated using an external signal that communicates with the integrated sub-atomic nano-technology."

"In English?"

"Everyone in town has this drug in their system, including me and, I haven't tested your blood but probably you too."

"Then why weren't we affected?"

"Because the drug doesn't work until it's turned on and the signal that turns the drug on probably didn't reach us in the hills."

"So will it wear off?"

"No," Zane shook his head. "It has to be turned off. The idea is that eventually people will only ever need one dose of a drug and they'll be able to turn their medication on and off instantly without waiting for drugs to be absorbed or injected."

"Okay, so how do we turn it off?"

"That's what I'm hoping that doohickey you collected will do."

"Is doohickey it's technical name?"

Zane turned to her, frowning until he saw her smile. The enforcer had just cracked a joke!

"No. Thingamabob is its technical name," he grinned.

"Okay then, let's do it," she handed him the cylinder.

"Well, I can't just do it, not without knowing the precise signals used. If I guess I could turn the drug on even more and end up overdosing everyone."

"So what do you need?" she asked.

Zane began examining the device. "I've already hacked into Doctor Pollock's computer and I'm reading his research now. I'm hoping to find something in here to help."

"How long will that take?"

"I don't know," he frowned. "This cylinder looks slightly different to the specifications in the computer."

"What does that mean?"

He looked up at her. "Was this the only one?"

"Yeah, and I had to hunt for it. It was stored at the back of one of his cupboards."

"Then it's probably a prototype that's been replaced."

"Will it work?" she asked.

"I'm pretty sure I can make it work, once I've found the correct frequency." He turned back to the monitor and Jo leaned over his shoulder to watch. Zane stole a sideways glance at her. She really was beautiful.

"So what did you find out?" he asked.

"We had a theft."

"Theft?" Zane turned to her.

Her breath caught in her throat as she realised how close they were. "Is there a problem with that?"

"Well yeah. I mean this drug is nearly perfect in it's design, it's almost beautiful. To corrupt it for something as prosaic as a theft is an insult to science."

"Well I'm sorry if your scientific sensibilities have been offended but we have more important things to worry about right now."

"Right," he turned back to the screen. "What did they steal?"

"I don't know."

Zane turned to her again with a questioning look on his face.

"It's a top secret section five project. All I could see on the monitors was a black box."

"Where'd they take it?"

"They left on a helicopter. I've contacted the DOD and they're tracking it by satellite and sending fighter jets to intercept it."

"They're not going to shoot it down, are they?"

"No," Jo shook her head. "Without knowing what's in that box we can't risk it. They're going to try and force it to land instead."

Zane turned back to his computer. "Any idea who did it?"

"Not yet but it has to be an inside job. Doctor Pollack is my prime suspect for the moment but anyone with access to that lab could have stolen the device and the drug. The thieves themselves wore masks and the ID used to override the security protocols were Fargo's."

"Well they could use his sleeping body for the finger print and iris recognition, but they'd need his voice print too."

"They could have recorded it," Jo suggested.

Zane picked up the cylinder and began dismantling it.

"It looks like it shorted out," he explained, "but I should be able to repair it."

"Be careful," she admonished.

Zane grinned. "It's okay, you can trust me, Jo."

Jo looked serious. "You don't get a lot of that, do you?"

"What, trust? It doesn't matter," he shrugged.

"It does matter. You're brilliant, Zane, and I'm sorry for the problems I've caused you."

"As much as I enjoy having ammunition to hold over your head, Lupo, and while I confess it does give me a cheap thrill when you snap those cuffs on, it's not actually your fault that I act out."

"What do you mean?"

"It's Fargo. You and I actually got on okay for a while but Fargo hated me from day one. Stuck me in dead end projects and with jobs a five year old could do."

"So that's why you act out?"

Zane shrugged. "Pretty much. He deserves it."

"Why? Maybe if you proved yourself in these projects he'd have moved you on to bigger and better things."

"You think I didn't try?" Zane shook his head in disgust. "What do you even see in that guy? He's a dick, and that's putting it mildly."

"He's not so bad."

"Oh really? You want to know why I released those monkeys a few months back?"

"Why?"

Zane shook his head and changed his mind. "It doesn't matter."

"Yes it does. Tell me."

Zane hesitated briefly. "Okay. That sky cruiser was a side project, something I worked on in my spare time, just to see if it was possible. When Fargo got wind of it he told me that everything I do while employed here, even if it's on my own time, is the intellectual property of Global Dynamics. He took the designs from me, put Doctor Henderson in charge of the project and left me to design the steering column, the easiest part."

"Fargo did that?" she asked.

"Yeah. You should know, you- I mean the other-you, is the one who searched my apartment for the schematics."

"I'm sorry."

Zane shrugged. "You were just following orders. Fargo would probably have fired you if you'd said no."

"I'd like to see him try."

"I don't know what your Fargo is like, but the Fargo in this reality is a petty, power-hungry dictator. He's not afraid of you. He's not afraid of anyone, except maybe Mansfield."

"Well my Fargo is afraid of me. It wont happen any more, Zane. I promise."

"Yeah well, we'll see. Anyway, that's my life since I got here. It's not so much a case of not wanting to fit in, more a case of being excluded."

"But you and I used to get on okay?" she asked.

"For a while, why?"

"My-Fargo likes me," Jo sighed. "He always has. I'm guessing this Fargo's dislike of you is because I liked you in this timeline too."

"So Fargo's a dick because he's jealous of me?" he sounded uncertain.

"Yeah. I think so."

Zane shook his head and grinned. "Head of global Dynamics and still an insecure little geek," he said to himself.

"Zane?"

He looked up from the device.

"If you designed the steering column, is that why only you could fly that thing?"

Zane grinned. "Maybe."

Jo found herself smiling too.

"Okay," Zane announced a few minutes later. "I've reprogrammed the wave generator and set it to the lowest power so we can test it without risking affecting everyone in the vicinity."

Jo looked over to Carter. "Are you sure it's safe?"

Zane turned serious. "I'm as sure as I can be."

Jo nodded. "Do it."


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Perchance to Dream

Author: Cat Chester

Rating: T

Paring: Jo/Zane

Disclaimer: Not mine. Please don't sue as all I own are 3 dogs. Actually, you're welcome to the dogs.

Spoilers: Up to Crossing Over

Summary: Following the change in Lupo's behaviour, Zane decides to do some digging but his confrontation is interrupted when the Town in put in peril. Jo and Zane must work together to try and save it.

AN: Thank you for all the kind reviews on chapters one and two and I apologise for the delay in getting this out, real life and illness got in my way. Sorry.

AN2: Still unbetaed because I've made you wait long enough. Please forgive any mistakes.

III

"Okay," Zane announced a few minutes later. "I've reprogrammed the wave generator and set it to the lowest power so we can test it without risking affecting everyone in the vicinity."

Jo looked over to Carter. "Are you sure it's safe?"

Zane turned serious. "I'm as sure as I can be."

Jo nodded. "Do it."

**Chapter Three**

As Zane approached Carter, Jo's phone rang.

"Lupo."

Zane decided to continue without her. He was worried he would let her down so this was easier to do while her attention was focused elsewhere.

"Okay, Sheriff, here goes nothing." He pressed the buttons on either side of the device and watched as the top glowed white for a second or two before fading. The cylinder sparked, shocking him as a wisp of smoke escaped but he managed to hold on to it despite the pain.

"Damn it!" he said, clenching his teeth in frustration.

"Zane?" he turned towards Jo, ready to see the disappointment in her eyes.

"Jo, I'm sor-"

Jo grinned and Zane looked confused.

"You did it," she said. Zane turned around to see Jack rubbing his eyes.

"What the hell happened?" Jack asked.

Jo rushed to his bedside. "You called me, remember?"

"Vaguely," he groaned. "How long was I out?"

Jo checked her watch. "About three hours."

"And the rest of the town?"

"Still asleep," Zane said. "I turned it down to the lowest setting but the device is fried," he held the cylinder up. "We need to find the new one or I'll have to rebuild it before we try and wake the whole town up."

"I had the weirdest dreams," Jack said as he struggled into a sitting position.

"That's listed as a possible side effect of the drug," Zane explained as he returned to the computer terminal.

"And I have the mother of all headaches," Jack said.

"But at least you're awake," Jo smiled at him.

"True. So what did I miss?" Jack asked.

Zane kept one ear on their conversation as Jo filled him in on what had happened.

"So do we know what they stole?" Jack asked when she had finished.

"Not exactly. It's section five and top secret but that phone call I just got was from the DOD. The helicopter has disappeared so I'm going to guess it was a cloaking device of some kind."

"Can't we track it some other way?" Jack asked. "With infra-red or a displacement scan or something?"

"They're trying but no luck."

"And they won't have any," Zane added.

Jo and Jack looked over to him.

"I've been looking into section five files and I think I've found your cloaking device. Do you want the good news or the bad news?"

"How did you hack into those files so quickly?" Jo asked.

Zane smiled. "Please! I've had backdoors into every branch of this computer since the first week I worked here."

Jo frowned. She wasn't sure if that fact pleased her because it helped them right now, or angered her because Zane just had no respect for boundaries.

"Don't look at me like that," he scolded her.

"Like what?"

"All accusing and disappointed. Do you want to know what I found out or not?"

"Sure." She moved closer to Zane as Jack got out of bed and joined them.

"I don't suppose there are any clothes around here, are there?" Jack asked. His sweat pants were sadly inadequate for the tasks that surely lay ahead.

"There's scrubs in that cupboard," Zane pointed to it. Jack pulled one of the green shirts on as he listened to them.

"So how can we track the helicopter?" Jo asked.

"We can't," Zane answered. "That was the bad news. The good news is, they're gone for good."

"You want to run that by me again?" Jack asked as he joined them.

"Okay. Do you remember that P-Brain incident with Tess Fontana?"

"Zane!"

"No, no," Jack reassured her. "It's not an insult. P-Brains are... dimensional curtains, right?"

"Close enough. They're the barriers that separate dimensions. Crossing into the fifth dimension is the ultimate form of cloaking because you essentially exist outside of regular space. No sensor on earth can detect you. You can literally walk right into the Oval Office and listen in without being detected."

"Then why isn't it being used already?" Jo asked.

"Because crossing the P-Brain isn't that difficult but de-cloaking, or getting back to this dimension, is much harder to do with precision. In the case of missiles, to stay undetected they would have to de-cloak just moments before impact and that kind of precision isn't a reality yet. In the case of people, it's dangerous."

"How dangerous?" Jo asked.

"Deadly. Aside from Jack and Tess, so far this project has only had one successful test and they haven't been able to repeat that success again."

"But presumably they can de-cloak themselves somehow?" Jo said. "Or they wouldn't have used the device."

"Well I'm betting they thought they had the technology necessary and could keep trying. Unfortunately, for security reasons the two parts of the project were separated. The cloaking device was in lab 5-04 but the de-cloaking testing was happening in 5-01. I took a look at your security logs and nothing was taken from 5-01, so they can cloak themselves but they have no way to uncloak themselves."

"So that's good, right?" Jo asked.

Zane shrugged. "That depends."

"On what?"

Jack sighed. "On if their friends come back looking for the missing piece of the puzzle."

"Then we need to figure how how this was done," Jo said. "To even know about the lab in section five it had to be an inside job. If we can figure out who's behind this we can be ready when they come back."

"It wouldn't have been someone who was working on the project," Zane said, "They would have known about both labs."

"Okay, so lets break this down. First of all they accessed Pollacks lab for both the drug and the gadget to activate it. Second, they poisoned the towns water supply."

"Neither of which is easy to do," Zane added. "The water is processed and recycled on site so they'd need high level security access for both of those stages."

"Okay, next they put the town to sleep, broke in here and escaped on a helicopter."

"Were there any identifying markings on the chopper?" Carter asked, turning to Jo.

"The DOD's looking into it."

"Okay. Something like this would take an awful lot of planning."

"Agreed," She turned to Zane. "Can you see if any employees have been in section five, Pollacks lab and the water recycling plant within the past month?"

Zane nodded and began typing.

"Three people," he told them. "Fargo, Josh Letterman the maintenance guy and Doctor Jose Mendoza."

"What does Jose do?" Jack asked.

"His speciality is telecoms. He's working on a faster than light communication system for use in deep space travel."

All three paused to think the situation through.

"Is it..." Zane's words tailed off.

"What?" Jo asked.

"I just- I know you're his friend and everything, but it _was_ Fargo's ID that was used to access the lab in section five this morning. Could he be the inside man?"

Jack and Jo shared a look.

"What?" Zane asked.

"I doubt it," Jack said to Jo, ignoring Zane. "He's shown poor judgement but he's never been a criminal."

"Except when he stole the organic computer from Doctor Leiber," Jo said.

"Even then he was only taking his own computer back."

"Still, we should check on him," Jo said. "Even if he isn't in on this, it was his fingerprint and iris scan used. He could be in trouble."

"Agreed."

"We should also run a credit check on Letterman and Mendoza, see if either of them had a financial motive."

"I'm on it," Zane said.

"Okay, Carter, why don't you look for Fargo. I'll go check the recycling plant, see if there's any evidence left behind there."

"I'll come with you," Zane said to Jo.

"I'm fine!" Jo snapped. "I don't need a babysitter."

"Don't flatter yourself?" Zane laughed. "I need to check their computer. A strange substance added to the water should have been red flagged even if it was unknown. The fact that it wasn't probably means that the computer's programming was tampered with but I can't tell that from here."

"Shouldn't you be focusing on waking the town up?" Jo tried to cover her embarrassment.

"I already have an idea about that but for now it's probably safest to leave everyone sleeping. If these guys do come back, we don't want innocent people getting hurt."

"Good point," Carter agreed. "I'll call if I find Fargo, you call if you have any news."

III

By the time they reached the recycling plant Jo was getting tired.

"You know, after major surgery it's not considered a sign of weakness to take time off," Zane said as they went in.

Jo chose to ignore his statement. "So what are you looking for?"

"Programming is like handwriting," he said, sitting at the closest terminal. "It's unique to whoever wrote it. If it's distinctive enough I might be able to match it to someone."

Jo nodded, took out a biotelemetric dispersion scanner and began looking for fresh movement patterns.

"There's too much here," Jo sighed. "I cant tell what's related and what isn't."

"Well this might help," Zane said. "The code added to the system tricked it into thinking the drug was Sodium Silicofluoride, something routinely added to water."

"How does that help us?"

"Because the code was added three days ago."

"So?"

Zane turned towards her and held his hand out. "Gimme."

Jo sighed but handed the scanner to him. He opened the casing and began playing around. Jo couldn't help leaning over him to see what he was doing.

"I'm not going to break it," he said.

"No, I... I didn't think you were, I'm just interested."

Zane clicked the casing back into place and handed it to her. "It's set to only scan for movements between 50 and 70 hours ago."

"Thanks." Jo turned it on and saw that the number of footprints was down to two.

"Any time." Zane turned back to his computer and Jo began a through sweep of the room.

Only one set of prints led directly up to the reservoir and Jo saved the scan so they could compare the shoe prints to their suspect.

"You nearly done?" Jo asked as she returned to Zane.

Zane was frowning. "Yes and no."

"Can't you ever give a straight answer?" she snapped.

"Unfortunately life is rarely black and white," he retorted. "In this case I can identify the code, but it doesn't make a lot of sense."

"How so?"

Program code isn't just specific to people, it's specific to places too. The way that people are taught to program affects the way they write code." He brought the new programming code up on screen for her to see. "This code is British."

"So the British stole the cloaking device?"

"It looks like it, but none of our suspects are English."

"They could be hired hands," Jo reasoned.

Zane shook his head. "The background checks here go back generations," he reasoned. "They don't let just anyone in."

"They let you in," she dead-panned.

"Very funny," he rolled his eyes.

"But you're right," she said, thought fully. "Okay, what about those bank robberies where they blackmailed the bank managers into robbing the vault for them by kidnapping their families."

Zane smiled, impressed with her reasoning. "I'd say that was worth looking into."

Jo's phone rang and she answered it, putting it on speaker to Zane could hear Carter too.

"Did you find Fargo?" she asked.

"I did. He's sleeping like a baby down here in section five, dressed in shorts and a Sarah Michelle Gellar T-shirt."

"Please take a photo for me," Zane grinned.

"Then we can rule him out," Jo said, ignoring Zane's quip. "We're working on the theory that someone was forced to do this," she informed him. "So we need to track down Letterman and Mendoza's families."

"I'll take the janitor, you take Mendoza," Jack said. "Text me his address."

"Will do."

As they stood to leave, Zane's phone beeped.

"That's the financial checks. Aside from credit cards and mortgages, they're clean. Nothing unusual and no missed payments."

"Okay, so the blackmailed theory is looking better and better."

"Do you, uh, want some company when you check out Mendoza's house?" Zane asked as they headed towards the door.

"Shouldn't you be working on a cure?"

"Already am," Zane tapped his temple.

Jo was torn. She did enjoy working with him but it was dangerous for her. If she became too emotionally attached, she'd end up being hurt again. Sure, Zane was being friendly towards her but that was a far cry from loving her, or even just wanting to be her friend. Every instinct she had was telling her to keep her distance and refuse him.

"Okay," she smiled slightly.

III

Jo stopped the car a few houses down from Doctor Mendoza's house and got out.

"Why are we stopping here?" Zane asked.

"Because if anyone's awake in there we don't want them to see us drive past." Jo had taken the time to stop by the armoury for equipment before they left and she pulled a gun from the holster on waist band.

"Hey, can I get one of those?"

Jo hesitated for a moment leant down to removed a smaller gun from her ankle holster which she handed to him.

"How many more guns do you have on you?" he grinned.

Jo frowned. "Two. Why?"

"Nothing," he grinned. "There's just something really hot about a woman packing that much heat."

"Whatever," she ignored the fluttering feeling in her stomach and pulled a pair of binoculars from her utility waistcoat.

"That's a good look for you," Zane quipped. "Much hotter than the power suits."

"Okay, stop," she held her hand up. "I need to focus now."

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" he asked, quite obviously enjoying her discomfort.

"You know you are, that's why you're doing it. You're like a kid seeing how much he can get away with before he's grounded."

Zane help up three fingers. "I'll behave. Scouts honour."

Jo raised her eyebrows. "Wrong hand."

Zane grinned but he knew when to shut up and as Jo headed through the neighbours garden towards the house, he followed silently in her wake.

At the fence Jo paused and looked through the binoculars. While Zane had tucked his gun into his waist band he noticed Jo still had hers in her right hand.

"I'm reading four heat signatures, all still."

"Unconscious?" Zane asked quietly.

"Looks like it but we can't be sure until we're inside."

"He has two teenage children, it's probably just the family. Can I?" he pointed to the binoculars and Jo handed them to him. "They're in slightly odd positions," he noted.

"I know. It looks like they're restrained but we still need to be careful. One of them could be faking."

They scaled the fence and entered the house through the back door. It was locked but Zane quickly picked it and quietly they crept from room to room. Zane had taken his gun out but kept it lowered, leaving Jo to clear each room ahead of him since she was the professional.

The house was all on one level and they found the doctor and his wife in the master bedroom. The wife was handcuffed to the headboard, unconscious, while her husband was restrained with duct tape beside her.

In the other two bedrooms they found the children, each also handcuffed to their headboards. Jo put her gun away and returned to the master bedroom to check the soles of the doctors shoes.

"Same tread marks as in the recycling plant," she sighed.

"Why the sigh?" Zane frowned. "Your theory was right, he was blackmailed into helping."

"Maybe, or they could have tied him up as a cover to make him look innocent. Either way, unless he wakes up and we can get some information from him, this doesn't really help us." She sat down on the otterman at the end of the bed.

"You're not very trusting, are you?" he observed, sitting beside her.

"I'm not trained to be trusting."

"You trusted me," he said. "And you and I were the only two people left awake. Time was when that alone would have been enough to earn me some jail time."

"But you..." She realised that logically, she should have suspected him. The only reason she didn't was because she knew how to read him, she could tell when he was lying. Or at least she used to be able to. She looked into his eyes. "Were you involved?"

"No," he answered, holding her gaze. "Do you believe me?"

"Yes. But that doesn't help us." She looked to the two bodies tied to the bed. "I'd better tell Carter."

"You know, it's possible I can get one more burst from this thing," Zane said as he pulled the remote control from his pocket.

"So you could wake him up?"

"Maybe," he said firmly. "This device is fried but I might, and I stress 'might', be able to get a short burst from it. I don't know if it will be enough to wake him up though."

"Do it. I'll call Carter," she said, holstering her gun and taking her phone out.

Zane popped the casing off the device again and withdrew Eureka's version of a Swiss Army Knife from his pocket. He used the laser attachment to resolder two of the connections, bypassing some of the damaged circuitry while Jo called Carter. She began pacing as they talked, discussing options and theories.

When he was finished, Zane replaced the casing and tried the device. He could feel the heat from it immediately and after a few seconds it caught fire. He hissed, dropped it and scrambled to put the small fire out with before it caught the carpet alight.

"Zane!" Jo was at his side in a second. "Carter, I'll have to call you back," she hung up the phone.

"It didn't work," Zane nodded towards the bed where both occupants were still sleeping soundly. Jo didn't turn to look.

"Let me see your hand," she said, reaching for it.

"It's nothing," he pulled it away.

"Let me see." She grabbed for his hand again and this time he allowed her to look. He watched her as she studied the palm of his hand like it was the most important thing she'd ever seen. She gently traced her fingers over the burns, careful not to hurt him. "You have second degree burns," she said, looking up, into his eyes. He was touched by the care and concern he saw in them.

"It's nothing," he assured her.

"You need to get it treated," she argued.

Zane wished she would look that way at him but he didn't think she wasn't really seeing him at all. She was seeing the other Zane.

"Does it hurt?" she asked, her voice soft and warm.

"Jo..." he said, trying not to sound harsh. "I'm not 'him'."

"I... What? How did you...?" She looked down at his hand, embarrassed and unsure of what to say.

"You walked into the Sheriffs office and said you'd marry me. It's not that big of a stretch, Jo."

"Oh," she kept her attention firmly focused on his hand. "How long have you known?"

"Once I figured out the time travel bit, the rest fell into place."

"Right," she took a deep breath and met his gaze. Zane could see the pain and confusion in her expression, that same look of vulnerability that had convinced him to help her and got him involved in this mess in the first place.

"I know you're not him," she said with a sad smile. "I know that everything I shared with him is gone. That _he's_ gone. But sometimes you say something or do something and... and it's like he's here again." She blinked back the tears that stung her eyes. "I'm trying very hard to think of you as his twin."

"His twin?" he asked, thinking that was a clever way to distinguish them.

"Yeah. Zane's evil twin, Pain, as in 'the ass'."

Zane laughed softly and despite herself, Jo found a smile forming on her lips too.

"I'm not that bad, am I?" he teased, trying to lighten her mood.

"No," she said seriously. "You're annoying, irritating, juvenile and criminal, but I think underneath it all you have a good heart."

She sounded sincere and Zane began to wonder if perhaps she could feel something for him one day. He had never considered himself good enough for her, even the tougher version of her from his timeline. Jo had integrity and a strong moral code, which unfortunately were both areas he was sadly lacking in. When he'd learned about the time travel and realised she must have been engaged to a version of him in another time line, he hadn't thought much of it, other than as fodder for some light banter. But now he was beginning to think that maybe they did have a chance.

"Do I?" he asked seriously. "Or does he?"

"Both," she answered honestly. "You are different, yes, but you're also similar."

"You can't turn me into him," he said kindly, brushing an escaped lock of hair behind her ear.

"I know. Even if I could, I'm not sure I want to. I feel like it would cheapen his memory somehow."

As Zane looked down at her he felt he was finally seeing the real Jo, the woman beneath the warrior. In his mind he could separate his feelings for both Jo's but then he had never loved his Jo. Lusted after her, maybe, but not loved. Certainly not like this Jo loved her Zane.

On impulse he lowered his head and kissed her softly. She put her hands behind her neck to draw him closer and he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her tightly as he deepened the kiss.

Jo felt like she was dreaming. Zane was here with her, loving her, everything was right with the world again. Then she remembered it wasn't the right Zane.

She broke off the kiss but stayed in his embrace, their foreheads touching. Both of them were breathing heavily and right now Zane wanted nothing more than to take her back to his apartment and forget about the town and it's problems.

"I've wanted to do that since the day I met you," Zane said softly.

"Oh god," she whispered.

"It wasn't that bad, was it?" he teased.

Jo looked into his eyes and he could see how flustered she was.

"This is all just too confusing," she said honestly. "I... I feel like I have a history with you, a connection with you that I don't. I..."

"Don't over think things, Jo Jo," he crooned.

"This isn't just something I can just gloss over."

"I know," he pulled away slightly and ran the back of his uninjured hand across her cheek. "Do you like me, Jo? I mean for who I am, without bringing _him_ into the equation?"

"Yes. But where does he leave off and you start? What if I'm-"

"Shh," Zane placed a finger over her lips. "Don't over think it. I like you, the new you and the old you, though I have to confess I like the new you more. I want to get to know you so how about we take it slow. We'll start with dinner. Or brunch, brunch is informal."

A shadow of doubt passed over her face.

"He took you to brunch, didn't he?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, scratch brunch. How about a movie and drinks afterwards?"

"Okay," she smiled, almost coyly. "I'd like that."

"Good, then it's a date. And if I start moving too fast, just let me know."

Jo felt like a child on Christmas eve but there was a part of her that was also terrified by this development. What if things didn't work out? What if he stayed a selfish jackass and was just using her for a get out of jail free card? What if _she_ tried to move things to fast? It had taken Zane long enough to commit to their relationship the first time round, this time she was two years ahead of him in the emotion stakes.

"Hey," realising what she was doing, he put one finger under her chin and tilted her fact up until she was looking at him. "What did I tell you?"

"Don't over think things," she repeated and took a deep breath. She leaned in and hugged him. "You're right."

"I'm always right," he quipped, holding her tightly. As expected her fist hit his back but with less force than he'd been anticipating. He held her tighter, wondering why exactly he felt such a deep connection her when in reality he'd only known this version of her for a few weeks.

Before either of them could find the answered they were looking for, Jo's phone beeped and she pulled away to look at it.

"The alarms in section five have gone off," she said, heading out of the house.

"Didn't you lock it down before we left?" he asked, following her.

"Yeah. They won't get in but if we can get back in time, we can catch them trying."

Zane thought that it seemed a little soon for anyone to be returning and he realised that whoever had masterminded this must still be in town.

As they got into the car she called Carter and before Zane could even fasten his seatbelt, she took off towards GD.


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Perchance to Dream

Author: Cat Chester

Rating: T

Paring: Jo/Zane

Disclaimer: Not mine. Please don't sue as all I own are 3 dogs. Actually, you're welcome to the dogs.

Spoilers: Up to Crossing Over

Summary: Following the change in Lupo's behaviour, Zane decides to do some digging but his confrontation is interrupted when the Town in put in peril. Jo and Zane must work together to try and save it.

AN: Yes, I know this update had taken forever. Sorry. If it's any consolation, I'm working on a new fic to fill the gap between now and the Christmas special. I'll hopefully be posting the first part later tonight.

III

**Chapter Four**

When they arrived at GD, Carter was already waiting for them.

"We need to find out where they are," he said as they ran up to him.

"On it," Zane ran into the building and headed for the security terminal. "Only one other terminal is being used," he said, typing. "And it's... station three in the mainframe. He's trying to hack directly into the mainframe. And he's succeeding," he sounded impressed.

"What do you mean, succeeding?" Jo asked.

"I mean that at the rate these firewalls are falling, in another thirty minutes he'll have full access to all the section five files."

"The we need to hurry. Can we see how many people are in there?" Jo pulled out her gun.

"Whoa, whoa!" Zane stood up. "You can't shoot in there. He's in the mainframe, the room that houses the supercomputer that is the brain of GD. If you take that computer out, it'll take months to get back online."

Jo glared at him. "Fine. We'll use tazers. How many people are we talking about?"

Zane sat back down and logged onto Jo's computer to access the security footage. "Two. One of them is Letterman."

"The janitor?" Jo asked.

"Yep. Looks like this was all his plan."

"No wonder he wasn't home," Jack commented.

"But if he had access, why use Mendoza?" Zane asked.

"Plausible denyability," said Jack. "The Mendoza's probably never saw his face."

"They take the blame, "Jo added, "while he still has access to all the labs and projects in GD."

"It's a good plan," Zane said with a hint of admiration in his voice as he stood up. "Okay, let's do this."

"No, Zane. Carter and I can handle this. I need you to work on waking the town up."

Zane frowned, he'd been enjoying working with her. Unfortunately his brilliant mind couldn't come up a good reason why they would need him so after a brief hesitation he nodded. "Okay."

"Thank you," Jo said sincerely.

Zane nodded and smiled. "Sure. Just... be careful, okay?"

Jo nodded and headed off with Carter to the security office.

"You and Zane looked... cosy," Carter commented when they were out of his ear shot.

"Yeah," Jo couldn't stop the smile that formed on her lips.

"Oh, it's like that, is it?"

Jo shrugged coyly before she grew serious. Her smile faded and she stopped and turned to him. "Am I making a huge mistake?"

Carter put his hand on her shoulder. "I think that's question only you can answer," he said honestly. "Does he make you happy?"

Jo thought about how she felt when she was with him. Sometimes scared, sometimes angry, sometimes frustrated but she always looked forward to seeing him, even when it hurt to be around him.

"Being with him is better than not being with him."

"Then take a chance and see where it goes. If you don't, you'll probably never forgive yourself."

"You're right," she sighed. "Thanks, Carter."

"Any time."

They continued to the security office and armed themselves with tazers and stun guns.

III

Zane had no way of knowing how Letterman managed to put the whole town to sleep. Perhaps he drove around town with the device, or perhaps they managed to boost it's power somehow. Neither way was an option for Zane since the device they had used wasn't up to the job; he would need to rebuild it from scratch first and that alone could take days.

He had come up with two possibilities to deactivate the drug.

The first was radiation. The remote control used omicron radiation to control the drug and it was possible he could reconfigure one of Eureka's satellites to emit a small concentrated burst to wake the town up.

The second option was Doctor Blake's nicotine therapy. He thought he could reconfigure the nanites to neutralise the drug and purge them from the blood stream. Although reconfiguring the nanites would be relatively quick, it would take longer over all, first to produce enough nanites for the whole population and secondly to administer them to everyone.

However, even if the radiation burst worked and everyone woke up, they would still be vulnerable until the drug was cleared from their system. As such he headed to the medical lab first. Before he began he grabbed a bandage and wrapped it around his burnt hand since he didn't have time to heal the injury properly.

Next he reconfigured the nanite programming so it would neutralise the drug and set the computer to produce 1,000 doses. He had no idea how many people lived in Eureka but he figured that was enough to be going on with.

Once that was done he headed to the control room, which housed the computers that looked after Eureka's satellites.

III

Using hand signals, Jo and Carter had organised their plan of attack. Unfortunately it hadn't gone as planned. Letterman and his henchman had been ready for them. Letterman had the advantage of real guns and had pinned Jo and Carter behind one of the desks.

"I knew someone was on to me," Letterman taunted them. "As soon as I saw Fargo had been moved I knew someone here was still awake. But not for long."

Jo and Carter shared a worried look and Jo chanced a peek around the side of the desk.

"He has a remote control thingy," she hissed at Carter.

"Then we have to take it out before he puts us to sleep. You're a better shot so I'll draw his fire."

Jo nodded her understanding. She only had a tazer but it would have to do.

Carter stood up and darted to the next desk. Shots rang out in his wake and Jo took aim and fired at the cylinder still in Lettermans hand. The shot hit the target and letterman screamed and dropped the device as it sparked. Jo took cover behind the desk again before he had time to shoot at her.

Jo could hear him shuffling about and risked another glance. He had picked up the device but it looked burned out. In a rage he threw it down again.

"You'll pay for that," he shouted.

"Yeah? Come over here and say that!" Jo smiled, pleased with herself.

"So," Carter asked. "You do realise that this de-cloaking thing won't work on your friends, right? It has to be on the other side with them in order to get them back to this dimension."

Letterman laughed. I never needed the device, only it's schematics, which they very helpfully sent me before they cloaked. It's the de-cloaking technology that my clients can't master."

"So you let them cloak themselves knowing they couldn't get back?"

"Of course. If I don't have to pay their fees, that's more money for me!"

"You sick bastard," Jo chimed in.

Letterman laughed again. "They're mercenaries, they're used to being screwed over."

She could hear him as be began whispering with his henchman and looked over to Carter. He had the same idea and while they were both talking Carter and Jo rushed them, firing their tazers. Thankfully GD tazers had more than one shot per gun.

Jo's tazer hit the henchman in the leg but he appeared to be wearing some kind of body armour which blocked the shock. Letterman managed to duck behind a pillar and get off a few rounds before Carter could fire and when the henchman began firing again Carter and Jo were forced to duck for cover once more.

As she lay behind one of the servers she couldn't help but think how angry Zane was going to be when he realised the precious super computer had been shot up.

Jo heard footsteps and saw that both men were running for the exit. Keeping low, Carter and Jo followed them. They saw them separate and head in opposite directions so Carter and Jo paused inside the door.

"It could be a trap," Carter said.

Jo shook her head. "The footsteps echoed into the distance. It's probably divide and conquer. I'll go left, you go right and we'll hunt these suckers down."

Carter nodded. "Be careful."

"You too."

III

Zane had just finished repairing the drug's control device and was leaving Dr Pollacks lab when he heard the footsteps running towards him. He had a fraction of a second to take everything in and decide on a plan of action.

First of all he noticed the person running towards him wasn't Jo or Carter. Next Zane saw the gun in his hand and finally he saw that same gun being raised.

Zane considered reaching for his own gun but since he'd left it in the satellite control room, it would be slightly tricky. He was completely exposed, standing in the middle of the hallway and there was no where he could hide. He had no choice but to try and get back to Pollacks lab, even though it was some distance away. He turned and ran.

When the pain flared in his side he knew he'd been hit. Hell, he'd been expecting it and he tried his best not to damage the equipment he was carrying as he fell.

He heard Jo shout but he couldn't make sense of what she was saying. He heard a barrage of shots being fired and was glad when he looked up to see it was Jo firing at the intruder, not the intruder at him.

The man ran past Zane and easily dodged Zane's attempt to trip him up. Seconds later Jo paused beside him, steadied her gun and let out another 4 shots and the sound of running abruptly stopped.

Jo knelt down beside Zane.

"Let me see," she ordered, pulling his hand away from his side. He was surprised to note that she had no difficulty overpowering him, even though he tried to keep his arm there. At least she had grabbed his good hand and not the burned one.

He saw the blood drain from her face.

"That bad, huh?" he asked, trying to keep things light.

"We need to get you to the infirmary," she said, trying to help him to his feet.

"No, I have to get to

the roof."

"You need treatment. Waking the town up will have to wait."

"Jo, if I don't wake someone up, there's not going to be anyone _to_ treat me. Now, help me or don't, I have to get to the roof."

With little other options, Jo collected the bag he was carrying and helped him up to the rooftop.

Once there Zane collapsed to the ground, exhausted, but he knew he couldn't rest yet, he opened the bag and pulled the device out.

Jo couldn't believe he was still working. The amount of blood he was losing... She cut that thought off before she could take it to it's logical conclusion. The only way to save him was to help him and speed up whatever the hell it was that he was doing.

"What can I do?" she asked.

Zane looked up and smiled. He would have looked excited if he wasn't so pale.

"Open the junction box on that dish," he handed her a cable. "Then plug this into the program interface."

Jo did as he asked and Zane began typing into a netbook.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Realigning the dish," he said, distracted.

When he put the netbook down he picked up the device and began attaching it to another box. Jo noticed the device had been hastily repaired and it's casing was still open. Be began plugging wires from the device into the box then more wires from the box to an areal.

"The satellite can't produce the requited radiation," he explained. "I'm running the signal through an amplifier and to the areal. The dish will relay the signal from the areal to the satellite which I've aligned to reflect the signal back to the town. Help me up?"

Jo helped him to his feet and they shuffled around to the front of the dish. Zane turned the device on and left it and the amplifier on the ground as he pointed the aerial at the concave dish.

"Come on," he said under his breath, willing the repaired device to hold out. "Come on."

Jo held her breath. It felt like an eternity but in reality it was probably only seconds before the device sparked and burst into flames. Zane collapsed against her, his strength finally giving out.

"Was that enough?" She asked, holding him up. She noticed he was trembling.

Zane looked worried. "It better be."

"Then let's get you to the infirmary."

"That's probably a good idea," he agreed and together they made their way back into the building.

When they arrived at the Medical Lab, Carter was already waiting there.

"What happened?" he asked, rushing over to help her with Zane.

"I said she looked fat," Zane quipped, though it didn't lighten anyone's mood.

They lowered him onto a bed as Jo explained that he'd been shot by the Letterman.

"I prefer my version," Zane said, gritting his teeth against the pain.

"Call Allison," Jo ordered as she ran to the supply cabinet. "Get her down here."

"Is she awake?" Jack asked, pulling his PDA out.

"God, I hope so," Zane groaned.

"What happened?" he asked them.

"Long story," Zane said, sounding tired. "I'll let Jo explain."

Jack placed the call and looked down at Zane. His eyes were now closed and there was so much blood that Jack was doubtful than he could survive this. Jo finally returned with a tube of super glue.

"You're going to glue him?" Jack asked.

"It's faster than stitches," she said as she emptied two tubes of glue into the wound tract.

As Allison's phone continued to ring, Jack began to lose hope but finally she picked up.

"Hello?" she sounded very sleepy.

"Allison, it's Carter. Too much has happened to go into detail but Zane has been shot. I need you to come to GD right now. It's bad, Allison. Really bad."

"I'm on my way," she said, casting her tiredness off, something she'd become adept at in medical school.

III

When Jack stopped by the infirmary he found Jo still sitting beside Zane's bed, holding his hand.

"How is he?" Jack asked Allison.

"He'll live," she said quietly. "But he's exhausted. It was a close thing. If he'd lost any more blood..."

"Let's not go down that route," Jack suggested. "How's Jo doing?"

"Okay. She aggravated her own surgical wound but too nothing serious. Right now she needs to rest and recover but she wont listen to me."

"Yeah, well I don't think that's going to happen any time soon," Jack sympathised, his expression saying he understood just how suborn Jo could be.

"How about you? What did the DOD have to say?"

"They've finished debriefing me but with both suspects now dead, I think the trail has gone cold."

"So we'll never find out who the buyer was then?"

"I doubt it, he's covered his tracks well. We'll keep looking, of course, but no one seems very hopeful. How's the drug analysis coming?"

"Fine. Zane did a lot of the work for me. A lot of people are reporting very strange and hyper realistic dreams but I don't think there'll be any more serious or long term side effects. I've started a rota for administering the nanobots Zane reprogrammed to the rest of the town."

"The DOD is looking at ways to remove the drug from the water reservoir and in the mean time they're bringing in bottled water."

Just then the doors opened and the army officer who had debriefed him, Major Timson, entered and headed towards Jo. Jack moved to intercept him.

"Can't this wait?" he asked.

"I've already waited as long as I can, Sheriff. I cant delay this any longer." Though not backing down, the Major did look sympathetic as he glanced at Jo.

"It's okay, Carter," Jo said from Zane's bedside, though she didn't move. "He's just doing his job."

"Just give us a second, will you?"

The Major nodded and stepped a few paces away as Carter went to stand beside Jo.

"You sure you're up to this?" he asked. He had never seen Jo look as vulnerable as she did right now.

"No," she answered honestly. "If something happens to him while I'm gone..." She looked up at Jack. "I only just got him back, I can't lose him again."

"You wont. I promise." Jack put a hand on her shoulder. "I'll stay here until you get back."

"Thank you," she smiled. She stood up with one last longing look at Zane's sleeping form. As she turned away she smoothed her hair back and Jack saw her expression change from concerned girlfriend to professional soldier.

He smiled reassuringly at her. That was his Jo, strong, tough and always professional. That didn't stop Jack from wishing that she didn't have to be those things though. She'd had a rough ride since they'd changed things and he wanted her to find some personal happiness again. She deserved it.

"I'll be back," she said with a curt nod before she turned and headed over to the Major.


End file.
